


Thunder In the Dark

by macmacmac



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Candles, F/M, Power Outage, Secrets, Thunderstorms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-26
Updated: 2019-06-26
Packaged: 2020-05-20 08:25:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19372945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/macmacmac/pseuds/macmacmac
Summary: Set sometime after the events of Mount Weather. Abby and Marcus spend time together, each learning something new about the other.





	Thunder In the Dark

**Author's Note:**

  * For [To all Kabby Fans](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=To+all+Kabby+Fans).



> This one-shot came to me while driving home from work in a vicious thunderstorm. The clouds were black, making me think it was 10 p.m. at night and not 6. It actually turned out longer than I thought it would, but, the characters kept speaking. I hope everyone enjoys it!

Abby jumped for the fourth time in a few minutes, only this time is was due to the opening of the door.

“You okay?”

She closed her eyes and smiled at the voice behind her, a voice that she no longer knew what she would do without. Of course, he wasn’t aware of that, not yet anyway. It amused Abby that Marcus was an intelligent, observant and perceptive man, yet, he was clueless when it came to her deepening feelings towards him. Or maybe he had an inkling of her feelings, but did not return them and didn’t want to hurt her feelings. Maybe he was just plain terrified of what a potential next step could mean for them.

Abby didn’t fear that. She believed that once she was ready to let Marcus in on her heart’s secret, once she was positive he felt the same, she had to be sure he would do everything he could to keep himself safe. Abby always considered herself a strong person, but she knew she could not go through the pain of losing another man she loved. Although she would not label her feelings towards Marcus as love just yet, she knew it was pretty damn close.

Somewhere between their constant arguing on the Ark through now, their relationship changed. They trusted, depended upon, confided in, and needed each other more than Abby ever thought possible. 

The ground changed Marcus, brought out the man she always thought was hidden away inside, afraid to show itself for fear of losing control of the rule defined life upon the Ark. But now, he was relaxed, calm, natural. It’s like he was born to be on the earth, to feel the soft grass brush against his bare feet, to feel the warmth of the sun on his skin, to…

“Your hair is wet.”

Marcus laughed while running his hand through his wet, wavy locks. Playful, sarcastic retorts rattled through his mind, but all of them died on his lips the moment he saw her jump again. Moving closer to her, Marcus gently placed a hand on her shoulder to steady her, only releasing his grip when he knew she was alright.

“Sinclair and I secured everything for the night, but the skies opened up and we got caught in a downpour. I changed out of my wet clothes before coming over.”

Abby nodded in understanding, only to jump again when the various objects rattled in the room.

“What is it?” Marcus asked softly, once again placing his hand on her shoulder.

Abby shook her head, laughing at the silliness of it. Without thinking, she covered his hand with her own.

“I never imagined they would be this, loud.”

Marcus smiled, “Thunderstorms?”

Before she could respond, another rumble of thunder followed by a clash of lightening shook her to the core, so much so, she didn’t fully register that she awkwardly launched herself into Marcus. He wrapped his arms around her mid back, pulling her into his body. 

“If wanted to be in my arms Abby, all you needed to do was ask nicely…” he teased.

His teasing was rewarded with a firm slap to his forearm as she pulled herself away, ignoring the loss of the momentary warmth and calm the shelter of him provided. “When I want…” 

But whatever snappy response she was about to unleash faded with another crack of lightning followed by darkness. 

“Great,” Abby sighed. She paused for a moment to gain her bearings, only turning when she felt confident that she was heading in the right direction. “I brought two of the solar lanterns in this morning just in case.”

This was not the first thunderstorm they experienced during their short time on the ground, but it was by far the most powerful. To be safe, Abby stocked their office with lanterns and candles, all confiscated from Mount Weather. She didn’t care for the lanterns, but they served a purpose. The candles she found relaxing. Their soft light casting a warm shadow across the room, making things feel more natural and less mechanical.

“Marcus?” 

“What? Oh, yeah. I have a lantern too. It’s just, uh, on the shelf in the closet.”

In that moment, Abby was grateful for the dark. If the lights were on, she would be unable to hide the amusement in her eyes at stumbling across another fear of Marcus Kane’s; he was not only afraid of needles, but also of the dark. Although a small piece of her itched to call him on it, she bit it back. She couldn’t very well tease him about the dark when she jumped into his arms at a roll of thunder.

“Okay,” Abby smiled to herself.

Although they could just about make each other out in the dark, Abby and Marcus bumped into each other a couple of times as they navigated the darkened room, hands unintentionally striking places their current relationship state would not warrant. None of the touches lingered, but all were enough to send shivers through both of their bodies. Marcus carefully felt is way to the door, accidentally bumping into their white board along the way.

“Fuck…” 

“Are you alright?”

“Yep, I was just attacked by my own white board.”

Abby again stifled a laugh, unable to hold back a comment, “I hate it when that happens.”

“Funny Doctor Griffin.”

Abby smiled in the dark. She quickly found one of the lanterns and turned the knob. The light was not strong, but it was enough to cast a solid glow in the pitch black room. Abby quickly found the second lantern, turning that on while she carried the other to Marcus who appeared to be frozen somewhere near the closet door.

“Marcus,” Abby softly called, placing a hand on his back, only to jump back, at Marcus’ reaction.

“What…”

“Relax, it’s just me.”

Abby saw him place a hand over his more than likely racing heart. “Here,” Abby said while handing the lantern to him. “You’ll need it if you want to go out and see what’s happening.”

“We know what happened Abby, the storm knocked our power out.”

Although the light was not strong, Marcus felt an all too familiar irritated glare nail him to the spot. 

“Then use it to find your way to the closet door and the other lantern you placed in there,” Abby responded, turning on her heel before Marcus could utter an apology. Being in the pitch dark made him edgy, always had. As a kid, he always slept with a nightlight, one that cast just enough light for him to see his way should he wake up. And although the power almost never went out on the Ark, the one time it did.....shaking his head, Marcus did not want that particular memory to surface. He worked too long to forget it.

Before turning to the closet, Marcus watched Abby use the light from the second lantern to search through the desk drawers. The words “I’m sorry” formed inside his mouth, yet he was unable to say them. Instead he turned to the closet. Thanks to the light, he easily located the knob, turned it and pulled out two additional lanterns. 

Checking both spares to make sure they worked, Marcus closed the door, once again turning to Abby. He made out a line of candles that were spread out along the desk, yet, none of them were lit.

“I’m going to walk around, make sure everyone is okay. I’ll take these extra lanterns to Sinclair, have him and the other engineers investigate the power outage.”

“Sounds good.” 

Marcus paused by the door for a moment, watching her. He knew she was searching for the matches. He smiled at the sight, she knew where the lanterns and candles were, but forgot she placed the matches inside the tin can on the edge of the desk.

“Abby?”

The soft tone of his voice calmed her. Pausing her search for the matches, she looked up, immediately connecting with the warmth of his eyes. 

“I’m sorry I snapped at you.”

“It’s okay Marcus.”

Nodding, “Will you be alright until I get back?”

Smiling, “I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll be back soon.”

Before she could stop herself, “Be careful of any stray whiteboards.”

Warming at her sass, Marcus exited the room, grateful the lightness seemed to return to them. He didn’t mean to snap at her, but he felt tense after being cast in the dark, at the memories buried there. Marcus again shook that thought from his mind, choosing to focus on the more pressing task at hand.

**

A frenzied half hour later, all of the tension that gathered through Marcus’ body dissipated the moment he entered their office. He was immediately met by a warm glow and the sight of Abby, shoes off, wearing her stretch pants and oversized sweatshirt, both from Mount Weather, stretched out on the couch, book in hand. From a distance, she appeared relaxed until the roll of thunder rattled the room. Although she didn’t visabley jump, Marcus noted the grip on the book ends tighten.

She looked beautiful.

“Are you coming in or are you going to remain in the doorway?”

Giggling, Marcus entered the room, closing the door behind him. “Sorry, I didn’t want to startle you.”

Dropping the book onto the floor next to her, she turned her body towards him, “So you thought you’d ogle me instead?”

“I wasn’t ogling you,” Marcus stated more boldly than he should have. The truth was, he was doing just that. He couldn’t help it, she was captivating. Even more so when she believed nobody was looking. Marcus sat on the edge of the couch, removing his own boots.

“So I’m not worth ogling?”

His head immediately shot up. “I didn’t say that.”

“So you were watching me.” 

“Are you enjoying teasing me right now?” Marcus kicked his own boots away, claiming the other end of the couch. They now sat facing each other, legs stretched out in front, with Abby’s feet placed in between Marcus’.

“Yes, I am.”

“Well, I’m happy I can be of service to you,” he said with a smile.

Abby shyly smiled back. “Did you find Sinclair?”

Cradling his head against the palm of his hand, mirroring Abby’s posture on the other end of the couch, he smiled, gentling rubbing his toe against hers while the thunder and lightning continued to crash around them. 

“Yeah. He cannot determine the cause of the outage from inside. He’ll wait to go out with Wick when the storm clears. But, everything is closed up and secure. We just need to ride it out for the night.”

Abby nodded before looking away.

Reading her mind, “I’m sure she’s okay Abby. After all, she’s your daughter. And you are the strongest, smartest person that I know.”

She turned back, wiping the stray tear before it could escape her eye. Smiling before looking back at him, “Are you finally admitting that I’m smarter than you?”

Awarding her with his brightest, fullest smile, “Does it make you feel better?”

“Yes.”

“Then I guess I am.”

“Wait, that doesn’t count.”

“What do you mean it doesn’t count?”

“You can’t just say you guess you are admitting that I’m smarter than you to appease me. You need to mean it otherwise it doesn’t count.”

Lifting his head so he could look her directly in the eyes, “Where I consider myself to be an intelligent man, I know my smarts comes from books, instinct, observation. But you, your intelligence is superior to mine. You not only understand the complexities of the human body and beyond, but you, you understand and relate to people on an emotional level like I’ve never seen. You are magnificent Abby.”

A fresh wave of tears came upon Abby in a flash, so much so that when the next round of thunder surrounded them, she didn’t even flinch, for her breath was caught in her chest.

Silently, Marcus awarded himself a point for finally rendering Abby speechless. And if they were still on the Ark, he’d let her know it. But they were no longer on the Ark, they were no longer the people who fought at every turn even if there were things they agreed on. It’s like they were addicted to it, addicted to the rise they got out of each other. If they didn’t argue...they would…

Hot damn.

The internal drive that motivated him to fight with Abby at every turn on the Ark was the same urge that no longer wants to fight her, but to see her smile, to let her know how much he values her, how much he always has. And if he showed that on the Ark, their own brand of foreplay would have involved ripping each other’s clothes off any chance they got. Something he knows he wants now, but will never take the step unless he was sure Abby wanted the same.

Looking at her now was enough to make him believe she did.

“Hey, you still with me over there?” 

Marcus jumped at the sensation her feet rubbing against his. His body warmed, the stress of being on the ground and all of its uncertainty seemed to vanish from his mind. All that existed in this moment was the woman before him surrounded by the soft, warm glow of the candles.

“I’m still here. I was just thinking.”

“About what?”

“About how different things are now. Between us I mean. I mean, here we are, crashed out on the couch, playing footsies with each other, surrounded by candlelight.”

Raising an eyebrow, “Footsies?”

Laughing, “Well, what do you call what’s happening with our feet down there?.” 

Abby followed Marcus’ eyes, looking at their feet. They started with them apart, just barely brushing the other to now having them completely intertwined. Neither made a move to move them.

Smiling. “My mom and I used to foot wrestle.” At the look on Marcus’ face, Abby continued with an explanation. “We sat on the couch like this, only our legs were lifted into the air. We placed our feet against the other and then fought. Whoever’s foot slipped off first lost.”

“Interesting. Do you want to play?”

And then the most glorious sound filled the room, warming Marcus to the core. Abby’s natural, full laugh filled the darkened room. 

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you’re legs are a bit longer than mine.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“Are you calling me short?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Then what are you saying?”

Smiling, “that I’ve noticed your legs.” 

“Oh….”

Marcus grinned at the blush that crept along Abby’s cheeks. “So?” Marcus scooted up a bit on the couch, lifting his legs into the air. “Are we doing this?”

Abby slid herself back a bit, lifting her legs, matching her feet against Marcus’. Initially, both were stunned at the strength they each held in their legs. This revelation should not come as a complete shock however, knowing they both spent time in the Ark gym, sometimes working out side by side in silence, other times passing the other on their way in or out. Although it was not as consistent, they both continued their workout regime while on the ground when time allowed. This generally meant they were not in the gym at the same time, but the results were clear.

For Marcus realized that where he may have had a few inches on Abby in height, the pressure of her feet against his revealed a physical strength he believed she possessed but did not feel for himself until now. What’s more, out of all of the parts of the human body, of Abby’s body that Marcus admired for more time than he would ever publicly admit, he never thought of feet as sexy. And he sure as hell wouldn’t have described a silly game like feet wrestling as intimate - and yet, that’s exactly what it was.

With the balls of her feet pressed against his, her toes lining up just below his own, the length of his body tingled, made him feel things he worked long and hard to repress when it came to his co-chancellor. They were about to play a children’s game and all Marcus focused on was if he felt this good with just her socked feet against his own, how in the holy hell would he feel with her clothed or unclothed body wrapped around his? 

Little did Marcus know that Abby held the exact same thoughts. As a doctor she knew that the nerve endings in the feet served as connectors to the rest of the body, so much so, that when massaging various pressure points within the feet, relief could be felt within the arms, shoulders and neck. What she didn’t however count on was not only the heat that it would ignite in her, but the pleasure she felt in every corner of her body and soul. And shit, if she felt this hot with only their feet touching, how on earth would she feel if their whole bodies were? 

And not just for the short time of their hug before created out of her being jumpy, but because they came together physically because it’s what they both needed and wanted?

So lost in her thoughts, Abby barely registered Marcus talking to her. “We gonna wrestle or what?”

Abby’s eyes connected with his, not missing the brief flicker of desire that lived there, before being chased away by his words. Smiling at the silent admission that his thoughts mirrored her own, Abby challenged, “From three….it’s game on.”

Marcus nodded in understanding, keeping his legs perfectly still while Abby counted down from three. Once she hit that number, they both moved their legs, each pressing harder, moving their legs in circles, doing everything and anything they could to shake the other’s feet off. Laughter and curse words filled the room as they battled it out. To her credit, Abby hung in there longer than either thought she would, given their height difference, but thanks to some books crashing to the floor after a shocking burst of thunder, Abby lost her concentration, her foot slipping from Marcus’, landing directly on his inner thigh.

“Yes!!!” Marcus cheered, keeping his leg stretched out, unwilling to lose the contact of Abby’s foot, while bending the other at his knee, foot planted firmly on the couch. He stared at Abby for a moment, quietly enjoying the defeat that played across her face. With her arms crossed, she looked as though she was…

“Are you pouting right now?” 

“No. It was an unfair fight from the start!”

Shaking his head, “An unfair fight would have had me win the moment you said three. Admit it, I’m just better at this than you.”

“I’ll admit no such thing. The damn thunder distracted me.”

“Do you want to go another round?”

Abby considered that for a moment, until another thought crossed her mind, one that she did not want to overthink. Silently, she stood, blowing out a few candles around the room as she did. When she returned to the couch, she caught the look of surprise on Marcus’ face. She sat down next to him.

“Abby?”

“There’s something else I want to do instead.”

“What?” Marcus asked softly, hoping to control the pounding in his heart.

She then slid her body between the couch cushions and his bent knee, forcing him to once again to not only straighten his legs, but slide them closer together to make room for her. Abby slid her petite body between him and the cushions of the couch, so her back pressed slightly against his own, her head resting against his shoulder, her legs gently draped over his.

“Is this okay?” she whispered.

Marcus responded with snaking his right arm under her back, placing his palm along the side of her stomach. There, his fingers drew lazy circles on her clothing. They lay in silence for a few moments before Marcus felt he could speak.

“Did you ever watch storms from the Ark?”

“All the time as a kid. My dad was fascinated by them. He’d take me to the windows overlooking the earth to watch how the storms gathered, how they moved across the land, the water. From above, they just looked like a thickened mass of clouds, blocking out the sun and stars. But from here…..”

“They are wet and loud.”

Laughing, “Yeah. I don’t know if I would have liked them as much if I knew how much noise they made. It’s unsettling.”

Without thinking of it, Marcus tightened his hold on her. “You’re safe here.”

Abby peeked over her shoulder, looking into his eyes, seeing the sincerity there. Smiling, she flipped over, now resting her head against his chest, her ear pressed against his heart. Marcus responded by pressing her further into him with the arm already wrapped around her back. He left it there, under the soft curls of her hair, just underneath her shoulders.

“What made you scared of the dark?” 

Marcus closed his eyes, swallowing hard. “I can’t get anything past you can I?”

“Afraid not, but you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

Abby’s hand, having a mind of its own, now rested along Marcus’s side, gently rubbing soothing circles over his clothes. Marcus ran his free hand through his hair before putting it behind his head. 

“I’ve always felt on edge in the dark. When I was a boy, my mom always left a small light on in my room just to help me relax enough to fall asleep. I don’t know what it was, I just, I never liked it. In the light, I recognized all the subtle natural noises that came from life on the Ark, but in the dark, they frightened me.”

Feeling him tense beneath her, Abby slid her hand up his chest before gently squeezing his shoulder, “It’s okay Marcus. You’re safe here.”

Smiling at his own words echoing back at him, he removed his free hand from behind his head, opting to cover her hand with his own. Abby remained quiet, allowing Marcus to take in all the strength she could offer him through the support of her body pressed against his. It struck her that just before they started to feet wrestle, how heightened her senses became, how turned on she felt and now, although aware of how comfortable, how perfectly she fit within the circle of him, all she wanted to do was make him feel safe.

“One night, my light went out while I was asleep. I probably wouldn’t have noticed it if it weren’t for the noise and raised voices that I heard. At first I thought I was dreaming, but the voices, they only grew louder and louder. I couldn’t distinguish who they were, but knew neither belong to my mom. I worried if whomever they were did something to hurt her. The thought of not having my mom, of having nobody to take care of me terrified me. It made me freeze in place, too scared to get up and find out the truth. At the same time, if someone tried to hurt my mom, I knew I needed to stop them. That got me out of my bed, reaching for one of my bookends that was on my desk. Careful to not make any noise, I moved to my door, opening it slowly, only to be greeted by the soft light in our living space. 

Mom always left a light on there too, in case I needed to use the bathroom during the night. When I looked out into the space, I was both shocked and relieved to see it was empty. I looked in the direction of mom’s door, noting it was still closed. I moved closer to it, wondering if I should open it to make sure she was safe, but I couldn’t. That was my mom’s space, I thought it disrespectful to peek inside while she was still asleep. So, I put my ear to the door and listened, only relaxing when I heard the sure signs of her snoring.”

Abby smiled at the thought of a young brave and scared Marcus, respectful of his mother’s space.

“And then, I heard the voices again. They were outside in the hall. I moved closer to the door, again trying to listen without opening it. I heard some shuffling, grunting, more yelling. And then I heard my friend Johnny’s voice calling for help. Johnny lived across from me with his dad. Johnny and me, we considered ourselves brothers, wanted to be real ones. Our parents could just marry and then we’d be living together as a family. I needed and wanted a dad, Johnny a mom.”

Adding a young romantic in the making to the image already in Abby’s mind brought tears to her eyes.

“Anyway, what did we know about romance? Nothing. We were two silly, gawky boys. And then Johnny walked in on his dad with another man. We were 8, not old enough to understand what was happening. But, that wasn’t the first time. There were multiple men. Johnny’s dad didn’t know what he exposed his son too, what Johnny saw. We didn’t understand what his dad was doing with all those different men.”

Abby closed her eyes, the picture coming together for her. She dreaded where this story was headed, what he may have witnessed as a small child. She linked her fingers through his, her way of telling him she was there and wasn’t going anywhere.

“Johnny didn’t like the dark either. It was a secret, something we knew about each other and yet, we never talked about it. We just knew that the light needed to be one before either of us would fall asleep if we had a sleepover. At our sleepovers, we pretended the light was the moon and that we were camping under on earth. No tents, just us, our sleeping bags, the moon and the stars watching over us. Silly right?”

“Not at all,” Abby assured.

“Anyway, that night, I knew I shouldn’t have left our place. I wasn’t allowed to at night, no matter what the reason. But it was Johnny, he was my friend and I thought he needed my help. I couldn’t leave him. Brothers didn’t do that to each other. So, I crept out of our place into the hall, unlocking and closing my door behind me. It was then that I noticed Johnny’s door was ajar, heard the muffled noises coming from inside. I crossed to his place, looking up and down the hallway - hoping someone else heard - that someone else would come, but nobody did. We were too far away for anyone else to hear. 

I don’t know what made me keep quiet, to not shout out to Johnny that it was me, but I did. I stayed as quiet as I could, entering his and his dad’s place without making any noise. It was then that it hit me. Their place, it was still. The darkened room, the eeriness of it, it felt like life had left it. I felt cold, as if the blood drained from my own body. Like all of the laughter and wrestling Johnny and his dad did was no longer there. I realized later on in my life that it was what death felt and smelled like. 

Johnny’s door was opened and it was dark too. When I moved closer, I saw the shadow of a man towering over his bed. I didn’t know who the man was, but I knew it wasn’t Johnny’s dad. I saw his dad’s feet clad in the guard’s boots on the floor next to the bed. They weren’t moving. There wasn’t a sound other than the stranger’s breathing. It was heavy, like he just lifted heavy weights or finished up a fight. 

And then I backed away, too afraid to go any further, too afraid to ask any questions. Somewhere inside of me I knew a bad thing just happened and if I didn’t leave, it would happen to me too. So, I ran, hiding in their front room closet. I couldn’t see anything, not even my hand in front of my face, but I could hear. I’d be able to hear the man leave and when I did, I would check on Johnny and his dad to see if they were okay. I’d then run to get my mom.

Except when the man left, when I knew it was safe to come out of my hiding spot, I couldn’t help Johnny or his dad. They uh….”

Abby felt the warmth of Marcus’ grip on her hand disappear. He let go. She turned to see him using his hand to wipe the tears away from his face. She sat up further, so she could face him. Her movement caused the arm wrapped around her to slide off. Marcus pushed himself up further on the couch. Abby grabbed the hand that was resting on her back in her own, resting their joint hands on her thigh. 

“There was blood on Johnny’s pillow. He was on top of his blankets, his pj bottoms and underwear...they were off. And Johnny’s dad, he was fully clothed, but there was blood by him too. By his head. I called both of them, but they didn’t answer. They didn’t answer…”

Abby wrapped her arms around Marcus, pulling him to her. Marcus willingly followed, tucking his head into the space between her neck and shoulder and cried. She gently rubbed his back, placing a tiny kiss into his hair. 

When he settled down, he pulled away, wiping any of his spare tears away with the back of his hand, maintaining hold of Abby’s hand with his other one. 

“I then backed away from their room. I didn’t touch anything, didn’t call out to them anymore. I just left, running back to my own room, crying silently under the covers. I was too scared to move, too scared to do anything other than lie still and pray for morning to come. I prayed that this was all a nightmare and that my best friend, my only brother, would meet me in the hall and walk with me to school. But when morning came, there was no Johnny. Johnny and I would never camp under our nightlights again.”

“Oh Marcus. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry that you went through that, that you lost your best friend. And that you had to witness all of that. You brave, brave boy.”

Squeezing his hand, she looked at him again. “What happened next?”

“I went to school, pretended everything was okay. Around lunchtime, mom came and got me. Johnny and his dad were found later that morning when his dad failed to report for duty, when he didn’t call Johnny out. It turns out they were both beat to death, Johnny first, then his dad. My guess is the man came in before Johnny’s dad was home. I think he knew that Johnny saw him and his dad together. Johnny’s dad got there, tried to stop what was happening, tried to protect his son.”

“Did you tell anyone what you saw?”

Marcus shook his head no. “I was afraid the man would come after me. They never figured out who it was Abby. I never saw his face. I saw a shadow. I was an 8 year old kid out of bed after curfew. I feared what would happen to me, to mom if I said anything, so I didn’t.” Looking at Abby more intently, “Until now.”

Squeezing his hand, “Is this part of the reason why you joined the guard? I mean, you could have done any job you wanted to.”

“I didn’t want to see innocent people like Johnny get hurt, I didn’t want to see people like the man who first molested and then killed him get away. So, I did the only job I was meant to do, the job that most hated. I wanted others to fear me like I feared that man. I wanted people to know that under my watch, these kinds of crimes, if committed, would be solved and people would be punished.”

“And now?”

Offering her a small smile, “Now, I’m grateful that we, that I have a chance to be different, to handle things differently than we did on the Ark.” Looking away for a moment, as if trying to gather the courage to admit something more.

“What?” Abby whispered.

Looking back at her, “I’m thankful that I have you as my co-chancellor, as my closest friend. Someone that helps me get through the dark.”

“And I’m thankful for the same, except through thunderstorms.”

Laughing, “We are a pair, aren’t we?”

Awarding him with her fullest smile, “We are.”  
And then, Abby did something that both surprised and relaxed Marcus. She leaned back on the couch, pulling him with her as she did. She settled back, allowing him to rest his head on her chest while she wrapped his arms around her back. 

“Sleep now. Doctor’s orders.”

Whether it was the steady rhythm of her heart, the soft glow of the remaining candles, or the comfort that being cradled in Abby’s arms offered him, Marcus wasn’t sure, maybe it was all three. Regardless, he found himself drifting off into a soundless sleep within moments. 

And when she believed he was out, she gently placed a soft kiss against his hair whispering, “I’ll protect you from all the monsters that lurk in the dark.”

What Abby didn’t know was that although Marcus was asleep, he heard her vow to him. In response, he planted his own soft kiss to her chest while silently promising to shelter her through any storm.

**Author's Note:**

> To the readers of Unity, I do plan to update soon! Thanks for your patience and support!


End file.
